Toolfreak in New Zealand. - Day 38 / 44 Dusky Track, Fjordland

Day 38 Te Anau to Halfway Hut, 80 km by car, 37 by boat and 6 hour walk.

The bus picked me up and transfared me 80 km`s back to Cliffden, where i switched over to the boat transport.
The boat brought us over Lake Hauroko, wich is NZ deepest lake (more than 600 mtr.)

I really enjoyed the bumpy ride and the scenery was amazing, green forest everywhere and steep hills rising out of the water.
The skipper dropped me and the rest of the group (two Ozzies, two Kiwi`s, two DOC officers and a Londonguy) on a muddy bank in the middle of nowhere...
Everbody started right away to Halfway Hut including me, only my backpack was so heavy from all the food that i soon was the latest of the clan, then i spent 20 minutes in the bush to find the track again because i gott off somewhere...talking about a nice start, pfff

The trackmap said 6 hours, and six hours it was, with the same roothy underground as on Stewart Island!
We entered the hut exactly at 18:00, where the kiwi`s gave us a big smile, off course they where the first to arrive...
Whe had pleasant evening together, the log fire was going and story`s where told.
This is where you find reward for your struggle that day (well, the whisky helped too :D )

cheers :beer:

Day 39 Halfway Hut to Lake roe Hut, 5 hours

Today a better walk, the first part throught the bush and the last part up to the mountains (i`ve always been a better climber than a descender)
Started at eight, with only the DoC fellows and the UK guy in front of me.
The first part was indeed the same as yesterday, but after the second wirebridge the scenery changed.
My walking was a lot better, i adjusted my backpack last night and the weight was a few hundred grams lighter than before.
The weather was great! , nice blue sky with some clouds and not too hot.
After several hours of ascending i came to a sort of plateau, checked the map, and to my surprise the hut was not far anymore.
I climbed the last saddle and there was Lake roe Hut, beautiful surrounded by mountains!
One of the DoC guys was already in the hut, and soon the UK guy arrived.
We had the full afternoon left so i decided to climb up to Lake roe in search of a good view, and good it was, absolutely fabelous!!!
Back in the hut i made cup of thea and i joined the rest of the party outside.
The evening again was relaxed and with the fire going it was nice and warm!
Tommorow the biggest descent of the trip, a 7 hours walk to Loch maree Hut.

cheers :beer:

It sounds as if you are having one great adventure. Wish I were there. I have always wanted to go to New Zealand.

Well, it`s really a good place for the outdoors :D

Day 40 Lake Roe to Loch Maree, 7hours

Well, today a descent from more than 1500 meters, with some vertical parts to keep things easy :rolleyes:

We started all together, execpt for the DoC guys, they where flying out today, they took our rubbish with them as well, wich saved us energy :)
Before we went down, we had a good lunch on top of the plateau and a magnificent view over the valley, we could see the Dusky Sound, Seafort river and Tripod hill, beautiful!
The descent was pretty tough for the knees and it seemed to keep going forever, but finally after 3.5 hours we reached "flat land"
We crossed the biggest wire bridge i ever saw and from there it was only five minutes to the hut....
After a good wash in lake (with millions of sandflies aaarghh :crash: ) i felt sort of clean again.
The wood we collected was very dry and the fire was roaring in a minute, very nice!
We cellebrated our last evening together with some dark chocolate and chivas regal :D


cheers :beer:

Day 41 Loch Maree to Supper Cove, 6 hours

After saying goodbye to the kiwi`s, i left at 8:30, today to the last point on the route before i turn North again.
The weather was unstable, but we can`t control everything, can we? :D
The biggest part of the track was part of an old route, digged by minners in the early 1930`s.
I left some food and fuel behind in LM hut, so my pack was pretty light, after all it was a good deciscion, because the last 2 hours where pretty hard!
The track was rough and i had to climb over trees and roots, and i slipped twice because of the mud, grrrr :mad:
Time for a break! on these moments its better to eat something and rest for a minute than struggle on....
Just a piece of bread and a muesli bar, but it taste great!
The sandflies where really bad and i decided to go on, and on of the last wirebridges came in sight.
Finally after a hard 2 hour struggle i reached the hut, ran inside to escape to bloody sandflies!!!
In the evening i had a last meal with the Ozzies, they where flying out with a chopper tommorow, lucky b*st*rds :D

cheers :beer:

Day 42 Supper Cove to Loch Maree , 5 hours

Well, at least i knew what to expect today :) I wasn`t to keen on the struggling part, so i decided to leave early and get the low tide to walk around the bay.
Low tide wasn`t actually low, it was more wading through the sea :rolleyes:, but at least it moved a lot faster than yesterday.
The weather cleared and the sun came through, very nice!
A few hours of "relaxed" walking later i reached the hut, my food and fuel where untouched and there was enough dry firewood, yehaa!!!

time for a schnaps :beer:

Day 43 Loch Maree to Kintail Hut, 6 hours

Rain...finally, and the trailmap warns for flooding parts, nice!
The first part was not too bad, i had to wade several creeks, but nothing serious.

I had some magnificent views on tripod hill and the surounding mountains.
With the clouds and the rain, it was a mystical atmosphere....
I found a nice boulder to have my lunch on, covered with my gloves and hat (%#$%:crash: sandflies) i had a good meal of chocolate, cheese and salami.

After my lunch a climb of 600 mtr, along the right side of tripod hill, the track had some rough sections, but i`m getting used to it ;)
The track followed some steep slopes above a lake before it finally descended to the river.

Again i had the Hut to myself, well some mice kept me company during the night....:)

Tommorow the last climb of the track, over centre pass!

:beer: